Clifford spotted her before Nils did.
He was standing along the sideline with a takeaway coffee in one hand, Delphine tucked against his other side while Nils's team warmed up on the field.
Then his attention snagged somewhere over Delphine's shoulder.
His wife.
She was walking across the grass toward them in black leggings, a fitted top and denim jacket, her hair down beneath a baseball cap. Sunglasses covered her eyes, but he'd recognise that walk in a fucking crowd of thousands.
Clifford's gaze dropped before he could stop it.
Jesus Christ.
Maybe it had been too long since he'd seen her outside school pickups and quick handovers, because he didn't remember those leggings fitting quite like that.
"Clifford?"
Delphine's voice dragged his attention back.
"Hm?"
She followed his stare.
"Is that...?"
"Yeah."
His jaw shifted.
"That's Nils's mum."
His wife, some irritating part of his brain corrected.
They'd been separated a year. He had a girlfriend standing beside him. He had absolutely no fucking business watching the mother of his child walk toward him like he'd never seen a woman before.
Didn't stop him.
Nils finally noticed her.
"Mum!"
His face lit up, and he abandoned whatever his coach was saying to sprint toward the sideline.
She immediately crouched to catch him, arms wrapping around him as he crashed into her.
Clifford smiled despite himself.
Every fucking time.
Delphine straightened beside him, smoothing a hand over her blonde ponytail.
"She's not what I pictured."
Clifford glanced down at her.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
Her smile came quickly.
"I just imagined her... different."
He frowned but didn't get the chance to ask.
His wife was already approaching with Nils beside her.
For the first time since she'd arrived, Clifford felt something remarkably close to fucking panic.
He hadn't actually planned this part.
Introducing his girlfriend to his wife.
"Hey."
Clifford shoved his free hand into his pocket before he did something stupid like automatically reach for her. His eyes flicked briefly over her sunglasses before he nodded toward Delphine.
"This is Delphine."
Delphine slipped her hand through Clifford's arm and gave her a perfectly pleasant smile.
"Hi. I've heard a lot about you."
Clifford's brows pulled together.
Because that wasn't entirely fucking true.
And something about the way Delphine said it made him look at her twice.
Then his attention returned to his wife, waiting for her response.